Warm Hands, Warm Heart (Guest Post)

Earlier this week I received an email from Andrew Powers. I have to admit I think I might have been insulted just a bit, but only my pride. It reads in part

Nick,

I don’t know if you’ve ever considered having a guest poster for your blog, but I have a request — would you be willing to have me as a guest poster? Please? I would post this on my own blog, but I reserve my blog for more serious thoughts that I have about living for Christ, and hesitate to post satire.

There’s no doubt about the fact that Christians like coffee. We like it plain, fancy, foamy, creamy, and black. In fact, we like it so much, we wouldn’t know what to do if we didn’t have our morning coffee. It’s so important that church wouldn’t be church if coffee weren’t provided.

Many churches like coffee so much that they have latte stands in their lobby. They realize the significance of a warm cup of joe to the Christian worship experience, and they wouldn’t want their people to be without such a necessity.

We have known for years that having a cup of coffee makes you a better Christian. That’s why we have coffee stands in our church lobby, in our Sunday school classrooms, in the back of the sanctuary, in the fellowship hall; sometimes we even have a designated “Tea Room.”

But now, yes, NOW we can say that we knew it first. We were onto this long before science finally came around to face the facts. But science has once again shown that Christians were right, all along.

Researchers “conducted two studies on undergraduate students to assess how temperatures affect emotions. They found that holding warm things may actually make people view others more favorably and may also make people more generous.”

“It appears that the effect of physical temperature is not just on how we see others, it affects our own behavior as well,” John A. Bargh, PhD, professor of psychology at Yale University, says. “Physical warmth can make us see others as warmer people, but also cause us to be warmer – more generous and trusting – as well.”

But science and religion are not at odds with each other. We can work together. Think of the applications that we simply haven’t tapped into yet! When you’re witnessing, offer to buy them a cup of coffee. Once their hands are warm, then tell them about Jesus. And never forget that you should always have a cup of coffee as you go witnessing. If worse comes to worst, ask them to hold your cup of coffee for a few minutes before you tell them about Jesus.

Now personally, I’m thinking that next time that grumpy old church member starts grumbling and complaining I’m gonna give them a cup o’ joe. Thanks Andrew for the guest post.

Comments

Nice post, Andrew! Although I have to admit, when I saw the title about holding “warm things” my sad brain went another direction. Just full disclosure (on second thought, that was an unfortunate use of that term).

Katdish — we do, we do. But the awesome thing is that for those of us who don’t like coffee (I don’t. I think it’s disgusting), we don’t lose out, because hot chocolate, green tea, or even a cup of hot molasses water (or whatever you care to drink) will provide the same benefit. It’s universal. Just like the gospel, only easier. No easy-believism here; it’s all easy and no believing necessary — just instant improvement in your walk with Christ.